Disney ain’t screwing around with these Star Wars spin-offs. Just two weeks after announcing that Godzilla director Gareth Edwards would direct the first stand-alone Star Wars movie, they have announced that the second will be directed by none other than Josh Trank (via Coming Soon), whose first feature Chronicle was basically about a bunch of teenagers learning the Dark Side of the Force if you think about it.
In keeping with the Gareth Edwards announcement, Disney did not specify which character(s) Josh Trank would tackle in his Star Wars movie. Presumably his film will go into production after Edwards’, however, since Trank is still hard at work on 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. That film is scheduled for release on June 19, 2015, whereas Edwards’ schedule is open, and Legendary has said they are willing to wait for him to finish his Star Wars movie before going into production on Godzilla 2.
What is perhaps most exciting about these Star Wars spin-offs is that Disney is willing to hire relatively new talent to direct them. Both Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank have significantly shorter, less time-tested careers than Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams, but then again so did Irvin Kershner when he directed the best film in the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back. Gambling on fresher talent, who may be less invested in perpetuating the status quo than striking out on their own and inventing something new within the Star Wars framework, could be just what this series needs.
Do you think Josh Trank has the chops, or will you hold out to see his Fantastic Four before you start making any serious judgments about how he can handle a blockbuster of Star Wars‘ caliber? Let us know.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
